Devil's Champion
by PhantomWraith
Summary: All my life, I've been seen as a demon, a spawn of Hell. No matter what I do, they've always seen me as one. Maybe it's about time I became what they believe me to be...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Devil's Champion

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Chapter One

He stared at the two graves set out before him with a calm, blank expression. The two people that now inhabit them held a strong influence over him. One taught him what the true life of a shinobi was truly like; a life of spilt blood and death. The other taught what the meaning of true strength was; protecting those close at heart.

"Good-bye, Zabuza-san, Haku-san. Rest in peace, friends." 15 year old Naruto whispered softly as he turned from the graves and started walking back to his team. During his battle with Haku, Naruto had awoken his blood line, one that was unique to him and him alone that had been spawned from his rage and sorrow. Because of it, he had physically and mentally changed.

He stood at an imposing height of 6'9" with waist length snow white hair, black irises bearing crimson slit pupils with dark red sclera, muscular, sharp fang-like canines, and ashen skin stained with black tribal markings covering his entire right arm and the right side of his chest.

The only additions he underwent because of his awakened blood line were his eyes, the paler skin, and his fangs. The rest was a result of the Kyuubi altering his genes over the years to create a better host worthy of containing the 'almighty Kyuubi no Kitsune', as spoken by the fox itself.

It made him stick out like white on black, but Naruto figured that was kind of what the Kyuubi was aiming for…

He was dressed in a pair of baggy black and grey camouflage pants tucked into pitch black knee-high steel-toe combat boots with three metal buckles on the shins, a pitch black armored sleeve and pauldron on his left arm going from his hand to his shoulder with leather straps crossing over his bare torso, a large zanbatou attached to his back held there by magnetically by a special seal, and a black scarf wrapped around his neck and pulled up over the lower half of his face.

Covering his left eye was a black range finder with three red lenses and a pair of tri-bladed glaives holstered on his thighs. The armored sleeve was fortified with seals that made the metal nearly indestructible and capable of negating most elemental ninjutsu attacks. The range finder was also augmented with seals, making it somewhat like a Sharingan and Byakugan rolled into one with the ability to see through genjutsu, predict what his opponent's next possible move will be, zoom in/out, and equipped with a highly tuned thermal imaging lens.

Also, the range finder was attached to a black metal face mask covering his nose and mouth with sharp pointed teeth decorating the object in a broad and vicious grin. Naruto had added the teeth to it to increase the intimidation factor, but usually hid it behind his scarf.

The sword he now carried was Zabuza's Kubikiri Houcho and the glaives had been Haku's, but the boy could never bring himself to use them in combat. The range finder and the armored sleeve were some of Naruto's pet projects that he had been working on for the past few years, but never got the chance to use them until recently.

"Ready to go, Naruto?" Kakashi asked his student, mildly concerned for him. He had been put through Hell during the past week and Kakashi knew it was all weighing down on the teen's mind. Kakashi had received a rude awakening as well when he nearly lost his first genin team, a sign of his poor skills as a teacher. The only one that did better than what was expected of a green horn genin was Naruto. He'll rectify his mistake once they return to Konoha.

"…Yeah…" Naruto responded, his dark eyes gazing toward the northern horizon down the path leading away from Wave Country. Autonomously, Naruto took point on the way to Konoha, oblivious to the jealous rage radiating from his black haired team mate, Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura was still shell shocked from the whole ordeal.

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Six Months Later

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They were given the week off when they returned from Wave and it passed by quickly for the giant of a teen. For the past six months, Naruto trained in his new bloodline and new equipment, secluding himself from the world. He rarely went out, choosing to remain hidden from others and only goes out during dawn or dusk for shopping to avoid unwanted attention, excluding any missions he and his team perform.

That was all shot down when he found out his team had been nominated for the Chuunin Exams last month. Kakashi had started working them to the bone during training sessions, even going so far as to finding out their elemental affinities and training them in their elements. Sasuke was Fire and Lightning, Sakura was Earth, and Naruto was Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Naruto had excelled the fastest in his elemental training and had been experimenting with combination element techniques in secret. Sakura hadn't changed much in terms of strength and usefulness and Sasuke was just as arrogant and thick headed as before, believing his heritage would win his fights for him.

The Uchiha's world was shattered when he fought the disguised Snake Sannin, Orochimaru, and had been given a Curse Mark by the pale man during their one-sided fight. Naruto had been given one as well, but it was not affecting him like with Sasuke. Now, having just seen his pathetic pink haired team mate make a bigger fool of herself and come to a draw in her match against the Yamanaka girl, Naruto awaited for his name to be called.

"Uzumaki Naruto vs. Higurashi Tenten!" Declared the proctor, a sickly jounin going by the name Hayate. Tenten- a petite girl with her hair put up in a pair of buns- descended to the floor, hyped up and eager to fight. Naruto calmly walked down the stairs and took his place, arms crossed over his chest.

"Do you even know how to use that sword of yours or is it just-" Tenten began to taunt, only to grow pale when Naruto grabbed the handle of his zanbatou and swung it around in front of him, giving the aspiring weapons mistress a complete view of the blade. "T-That's…That's Kubikiri Houcho!"

"Correct. Its former wielder, Momochi Zabuza, had died during a fight with my team's sensei. I became its new wielder in his memory." Naruto calmly explained, holding the blade parallel with the ground with only his right hand. "Let's just get this over with."

"Uzumaki Naruto vs. Higurashi Tenten! Hajime!" Hayate declared before jumping back to avoid getting caught in the middle of the fight. Taking the initiative, Tenten launched a hail of kunai and shuriken at Naruto, only for him to swing Kubikiri and bat aside all of the thrown projectiles.

Extending his gauntleted left hand, Naruto used his newly minted mastery over Wind chakra- thanks to Sarutobi Asuma- to push Tenten back against the wall. He then clenched his left hand into a fist and slammed it down on the ground, shattering the stone tiles all throughout the arena floor with Earth chakra and kicking up a thick cloud of stone dust.

Coughing and hacking, Tenten was unaware of Naruto's location, blinded by the dust. Naruto, however, had been training in the Silent Homicide fighting style and was near Zabuza's level with it. Kakashi knew this and wasn't the least bit surprised when Naruto was seen holding the crescent shaped indent in Kubikiri Houcho against Tenten's neck, whose back was pressed firmly to the wall.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto locked eyes with Tenten for a moment before giving her a slight nod. Spinning on his heel and reattaching the zanbatou to his back in one fluid motion, Naruto returned to the stands next to his team. Tenten, a little shook up, hesitantly returned to her own team, but her eyes never left Naruto's form.

'_His eyes…They were so cold and distant, almost emotionless.'_ She noted silently to herself. _'What happened to him to make him like that?'_

Naruto didn't bother paying attention to the remaining fights, only noticing that there was an odd number of genin present in the stands and that one of them would have to fight twice. He soon found out who when his name was called again. The girl from Suna, Temari, had been paired against a non-descript Taki genin and beat the boy senseless when he made a rather nasty comment that pissed her off.

"Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba!" Once both of them were in position, the match was started. Kiba, in all his 'glorious greatness', made the mistake of taunting Naruto and bringing up a touchy subject.

"Hey, Loser! Why don't you just give up, you pathetic piece of trash?" The brash Inuzuka barked out with a smug grin. He never noticed Naruto's right eye narrowing angrily. "Just release that henge you have on and walk away, weakling! In fact, why don't you hand that sword over to someone more capable, like myself?"

_THOOOM!_

Kiba was rocketed back into the stone wall in an instant, a sonic boom sounding off from his previous position from the speed of the impact. Naruto, right fist extended as if from a backhand, stood beside Kiba's previous spot, his visible black and red eye glowing with fury.

"NO ONE touches my sword! You got that, mongrel?" Naruto snarled at the bleeding Inuzuka as the teen dragged himself back onto his feet, eyes unfocused and blood dripping down the side of his face. His jaw was most definitely broken along with a couple ribs and his left arm and leg. Akamaru whined and bowed his head, backing away from the infuriated titan before him. Naruto paid the dog no mind, his attention locked solely onto Kiba.

"F…Fu-" Was all Kiba got out before he was floored by a fist to the chest, his back slamming down on the already cracked tile beneath him and fracturing his spine. Crying out in pain, Kiba bounced off the floor just high enough for Naruto to slip his knee under the boy's back and kick him up to chest level. In a single motion, Kiba was sent flying across the arena and into the opposite wall.

"Am I still weak now, you stupid bitch?" Naruto growled at the unconscious teen, knowing that calling a male Inuzuka a 'bitch' was among the worst of insults to call them.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate called out during the silence that followed Naruto's last comment. No one said a word as Naruto returned to his team. No one moved and no one breathed normally, all of them trying their damnedest to avoid Naruto's wrath. They all just learned a very valuable lesson; never mess with his sword or question his strength.

As the medic team carted Kiba away, Naruto could feel the glare directed at him by the boy's sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai, from his left. He ignored it. The foolish runt deserved what he got for pissing him off. If the woman didn't like it, then she could just fuck off and teach her students better manners next time.

He just wanted out of Konoha by any means necessary. Naruto had come to loathe his home village with a fiery passion after his mind was cleared from his blood line activating. He remembered all the hatred and pain rained down on him by the people of Konoha. He was half tempted into just going on a rampage and destroying the village himself, but even he knew he couldn't do it without dying.

'_It's a way to freedom, at least.'_ He mused darkly. Naruto gave a mental sigh. He'll figure something out soon. If he didn't get out of Konoha and soon, he'll end up going insane. That's when he remembered one crucial detail about his time in the Forest of Death.

Although not a very smart idea, Naruto knew that if he sided with Orochimaru, even from the shadows, he would have a high chance of breaking all ties with Konoha. After that, he'll seek shelter from another nation that isn't on friendly terms with Konoha and wait until everything blows over. If Orochimaru was in Konoha, then the man obviously had a plan to destroy Konoha and was using the Chuunin Exams to accomplish it.

Gnashing his teeth together in slight pain, Naruto ignored the burning sensation in his right shoulder where Orochimaru had bit him. Glancing at the spot, he saw it looked much like one of his glaives and positioned on his right bicep, ringed by curved markings from his full-arm tattoo. The pain died down after a few seconds, but it was nothing more than feeling like someone jabbed him with a needle.

'_I'll need to learn how to control…whatever it is the man gave me before the next test…'_ Naruto mentally noted for later, having been informed of the tests before hand by a friend of his in ANBU. Chameleon had looked over him since he was a child, but never once gave away any information about himself. The man wouldn't even let him see his hair or eye color. Paranoid bastard.

Saving those thoughts for a later date, Naruto tuned back in to listen to what the Sandaime had to say…

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One Month Later

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Ducking under a high kick, he retaliated with a solid punch to his opponent's supporting leg, striking the knee and dislocating it. Naruto cursed under his breath when the person exploded in a shower of fire, forcing him to jump back from the Kaji Bunshin.

Bending back to avoid being decapitated, Naruto then back flipped to avoid being dragged underground by the hands sticking out where his feet were moments ago. Landing on the surface of a nearby river, Naruto scowled upon seeing the four spiraling drills of water surrounding him and about to skewer him. Clapping his hands together and channeling his chakra, Naruto expelled a powerful burst of fire from all around him in the shape of a hollow sphere.

Veiled in steam, Naruto knew he had the advantage and drew his sword, using it to block the ninjato aimed to pierce his chest. Kicking his opponent in the chest, Naruto gave chase and barely caught sight of the man before he vanished into the branches of a tree, his body quickly blurring into invisibility via genjutsu.

'_No fucking wonder Chameleon is viewed as a legend in ANBU! The bastard is hard as hell to spot, let alone hit!'_ Naruto thought in mild irritation as he placed his sword on his back and grabbing both of his glaives. _'I can't throw them. It'd leave me defenseless for the most part and they're more effective in close combat than the Executioner's Blade.'_

Blocking the relentless assault of kunai, shuriken, and senbon, Naruto continued to try locating his sensei and friend. Unfortunately, the man was using clones and various other techniques to confuse him. What the man didn't know about was the one thing Naruto kept hidden from him the whole time.

Naruto's range finder was set on thermal optics. Even then, it was hard pinning the man due to his insane speed and agility, not to mention his mastery over genjutsu. The only reason Naruto even managed to hold his own in battle against Chameleon was because of his range finder and strategic skills, which he was slowly running out of. Chameleon was also known for his adaptability and the fact any given tactic never worked twice on him, so it was a major pain in the ass for Naruto.

"Dead." Chameleon's voice whispered in his ear, the point of his sword pressing against Naruto's lower back just to the left of his spine. As the man dispelled the genjutsu over him and became visible once again, Naruto sighed and holstered his glaives. Here comes the headache…

"Speed superb. Strength excellent. Mind…" Chameleon trailed off for a moment as if searching for the right words. "Too many mind. Clear mind. No mind."

Naruto, a little confused as always with Chameleon's unusual style of talking, raised an eye brow before nodding in agreement. Although vague, Chameleon had always been right when it came to training Naruto.

Dressed in the standard ANBU uniform and armor, Chameleon's body was hidden by a baggy black and grey camouflage hood cloak, his chameleon mask attached firmly to his face with a black cloth hood attached to it to further hide his hair and facial features.

"I see what you mean." Naruto mumbled as he scratched the back of his neck, only to be smacked upside the head by a seemingly irate Chameleon. It was hard to tell with his mask and baggy clothing, but Naruto had known him long enough to at least know what the man's mood was.

"No. No see. Blind. Blind as mole rat. Mind like ocean. Always moving. Too big. Make mind still. Still like great mountain. Make mind small. Small like drop of water." Chameleon illustrated and lectured in his own crazy little way. Naruto figured he must have been dropped on his head when he was a baby or got hit a little too hard on the head during a fi-

_Smack!_

"No mind!" Chameleon snapped at Naruto in annoyance as said giant rubbed the top of his head where Chameleon had slammed the sheath of his ninjato. Head perking up and tilting to the side slightly as if remembering something important, Chameleon disappeared via genjutsu right before Naruto's eyes. "Tomorrow. On time. No excuses."

"Hai, sensei…" Naruto sighed in exasperation as Chameleon vanished into the forest of the training ground. Seriously, the man had a screw or two bouncing around somewhere in his head. Maybe he…

Wait…Didn't he have something to do today?

"SHIT!" He exclaimed as he took off in the direction of the Chuunin Exam Arena, barely making it on time before he was disqualified.

"Sorry. Preoccupied. On time. Right?" Naruto vaguely explained then asked. _'Fuck, now I sound like Chameleon.'_

"Uh…Yeah, but just barely." The toothpick chewing jounin, Genma, stated before facing the stands. "Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji! Hajime!"

Neji smirked and opened his mouth to say something, only for Naruto to appear right in front of him in a blur of speed and throw a punch. Barely dodging the right hook, Neji back pedaled desperately in order to dodge the returning right elbow strike aimed for his throat. Eyes wide and Byakugan activated, Neji was finding it difficult to escape his opponent's range long enough to retaliate.

'_Damn it! Not even a minute into the match and I'm already being forced to reveal my trump card!'_ Neji thought furiously as he began to expel chakra from every point on his body, spinning rapidly. Noticing this, Naruto thrust his left palm forward, making contact with the developing defensive technique and disrupting the chakra flow via seals in the armor plates on the palm of his armored sleeve and gauntlet.

"You will not get away that easily, Hyuuga." Naruto calmly stated, his face frozen in a blank expression bearing no emotion. Grabbing the shorter teen by the hair with his left hand and kneeing him in the gut, Naruto slammed his right elbow into Neji's spine. Kicking him away and slowly walking towards him, the markings on Naruto's right arm began to glow a dark crimson as he channeled Kyuubi's chakra through the seal hidden among the markings and gripped Kubikiri in his left hand, resting it on his shoulder as he approached the downed Hyuuga.

For some unknown reason, Neji was frozen in place by an irrational fear, his eyes wide and filled with fear as they gazed upon the markings on Naruto's arm. It was somewhat of a legend in the Hyuuga clan, but there were mentions of the first generation of the Hyuuga clan being able to see a glimpse of two possible futures made by a single choice through a vision.

Neji just so happened to have experienced one of those visions and the glowing markings on Naruto's arm were in it, but on the arm of a great winged demon with large horns and a mighty double-sided battle axe in its clawed hands. The demon was silhouetted by towering flames and standing atop a mountain of thousands of dead bodies, a river of blood circling the monument of death.

"…D-D-D…" Neji stuttered quietly as he slowly tried to back away from Naruto, who merely raised an eye brow and stopped. "…D-De…Devil…"

"…" Naruto stayed quiet as he bowed his head, his white hair shadowing his dark eyes. No one other than himself had heard Neji's whimper and Naruto was glad for that. Genma moved to call the match, but a sudden chill ran down his spine and he decided against it. Maybe it was because of the evil look in the white haired teen's dark eyes.

"Stand up." Naruto growled in a cold and commanding tone as he looked back at the Hyuuga before him. Unable to think rationally, Neji listened and stood up on his feet.

"So you think I'm the Devil, huh?" Naruto hissed quietly in the same tone as before, careful to keep anyone else from hearing them. Neji, unable to move, began to sweat, panicking. Before he could register the movement, Naruto had thrust his right hand against his chest just moments before everything went black. Literally.

What Naruto had done was use a personalized genjutsu that enveloped any given space the user chose in complete darkness and anyone caught in it would be unable to see, hear, smell, or feel anything unless the user wished it. They wouldn't even be able to move.

"_You really think I'm the Devil, eh?"_ Naruto hissed in Neji's ear from behind, his voice distorted by the genjutsu. He didn't have to worry. His genjutsu, like the few others he had made, were fine tuned to defeat the Sharingan and Byakugan. Not even a Hyuuga on the outside could see through the genjutsu.

Neji started shaking in fear. For all his arrogance and belief in Fate and Destiny, Neji had one fear that over rode all others and that was a fear of demons. When he was young and the pain of Kyuubi's attack was still fresh, Neji was rendered just as timid and frightened as Hinata, if not more so, at the mere mention of the 'demon brat'.

No one knew why, but Neji had the vision of the great demon when he was only four. He had never known who the 'demon brat' was until now…

"_Well…I can't let you go and ruin my masterful disguise, now can I?"_ Naruto asked, playing on Neji's fear and manipulating the genjutsu to make himself appear as the demon in Neji's mind, axe and all. _**"I hope you enjoy your stay in Hell for the rest of your tortured life!"**_

Watching in fear as the axe descended upon him, Neji couldn't even utter a whimper as it struck the base of his neck on the left side and cut straight through his torso to his right hip. Blood sprayed from the fatal wound as the two halves of his body slid apart and dropped to the ground.

Releasing the technique, Naruto stared down at the comatose- and whole-bodied- Neji. Pale eyes glazed and his face bearing a blank expression, Neji was lying on his stomach with his head turned to the side, a slight touch of drool dripping from his parted lips.

"…Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!" Declared the unsettled Genma as Naruto attached Kubikiri to his back, the markings on his arm having died down to their regular black hue staining his flesh. Naruto, grinning viciously behind his mask, went up to the contestants box and leaned against the back wall.

His genjutsu, which he had yet to name, was made for one thing. To break his opponent's mind and put them in a comatose state due to their brain believing they were dead. The body kept on living like normal, but nothing short of Naruto releasing the technique can resuscitate the victim.

"Mother wants your blood, Uzumaki." The ever-blood thirsty Gaara spoke to him from his left, the pair standing almost shoulder to shoulder in the back of the room. Naruto grinned darkly and purposefully pulled down his scarf just enough to reveal the fanged grin on his mask as he turned to face the red haired boy.

"Oh, I can't wait, Desert Rat. I just hope your _Mother_ can stand up to me and my blades when the real fun begins." Naruto hissed as he leaned down to look straight into Gaara's blood shot teal eyes, which went wide when he realized Naruto's face was less than three inches from his.

'_My sand…Why didn't it react?'_ Gaara mentally demanded, not expecting an answer and not receiving one. Another thought then occurred to Gaara. _'Wait, does he know of the invasion?'_

Naruto grinned even more maliciously as he walked over to the railing, his fanged mask still visible and unsettling the genin around him. Glancing around him again as Shikamaru and Temari battled below them, Naruto noticed that the number of contestants were uneven. Perfect.

He noticed the match schedule on the wall and saw that he had to fight Kankuro before they moved to the second round now that he beat Neji. Shino would fight Dosu, Sasuke would fight Gaara, and Shikamaru and Temari were already fighting.

'_Since the Uchiha is with Kakashi, he'll be late and get his ass disqualified, bumping Gaara into the second round. Shino and Dosu will probably cancel each other out since Shino's bugs drain chakra and Dosu's sound techniques attack the inner ear and wreak havoc on the target's hearing and equilibrium, knocking them both out of the tournament. Knowing Shikamaru…'_ Naruto paused in his thoughts for a moment.

"I give up." Grumbled Shikamaru from down in the arena. Naruto chuckled lightly as he shook his head slightly, amused by the young Nara's laziness. Despite that, he'll no doubt make chuunin. As Shino and Dosu went down to the arena floor, Naruto watched as their match began.

Shino, with the aid of his insects, kept Dosu on his toes, but the Oto genin held his ground and made sure the young Aburame heir had to work hard to win. In the end, Dosu's sound-based techniques disrupted Shino's equilibrium too much for him to continue, but Shino's Kikaichu drained enough of Dosu's chakra to send the bandaged genin into unconsciousness. It ended in a draw, taking them both out of the tournament.

'_Just as I predicted.'_ Naruto mused with a sly grin behind his mask. When Genma called for Sasuke and Gaara, the Ichibi jinchuuriki stood in the arena with only the proctor as his company for several minutes. The crowd began to get annoyed as time went by with their precious Uchiha not in sight.

"Seeing as Uchiha Sasuke has not shown up, there is no other choice than to disqualify him!" Genma declared after a full ten minutes. "Winner by default: Subaku no Gaara!"

Naruto smirked then glanced at Kankuro, giving him a look that made the puppet-using genin shiver. As he walked passed him, Naruto paused for a second and leaned closer to Kankuro.

"If you forfeit, I'll hunt you down and skin you alive." The white haired titan whispered, reveling in the shiver of fear that coursed through the shorter teen. "It might be tonight, might be tomorrow. It might even be a year from now, but I'll get you."

In a puff of smoke, Kankuro was in position on the arena floor, a little pale in the face, but ready to fight none the less. Naruto chuckled darkly and walked down the stairs before coming to a stop in his position.

"Uzumaki Naruto vs Subaku no Kankuro! Hajime!"

Naruto started it off by drawing his glaives and activating a seal-based genjutsu on his armor sleeve, vanishing into thin air a moment later. Kankuro froze and started looking around, confused for a few minutes before pain erupted throughout his entire chest and stomach.

Crying out in pain and wrapping his arms around him, Kankuro saw blood dripping from several shallow cuts all over his torso. None of them were serious, but they were bleeding profusely and would no doubt pass out from blood lose in a few minutes if they weren't treated.

"Bastard…" Kankuro growled before feeling a blade slice through the bandages containing his puppet, Karasu, and the bundle falling to the ground. Before he could attach chakra strings to Karasu, said puppet was suddenly crushed right before his eyes by an invisible force. "W-What?"

"Hehehe…Oops." Naruto taunted mockingly as he revealed himself, his right foot still pressing down on the splintered remains of Karasu's chest. Angered, Kankuro shot out chakra strings to the still working parts of Karasu's body and attempted to raise them into the air to attack, but everything suddenly felt cold as something struck his chest.

Looking down, Kankuro's eyes went wide with fear and shock upon seeing the tri-bladed disk buried in his chest cavity, his sternum split right down the middle. Kankuro looked up at Naruto and saw the teen's left arm extended from throwing the disk. Blood began to drip from the corners of his mouth as he succumbed to his injuries.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma declared. Temari cried out in outrage and sorrow upon seeing her brother's body fall to the ground. Naruto gazed upon Kankuro's corpse with disinterest before retrieving his glaive and wiping it off on the boy's clothing, holstering the twin disks as he stood back up.

Returning to the contestant box, Naruto gave Temari a glare that halted her grieving anger and forced her to step back in slight fear before leaving him alone altogether, although still glaring at him from the other side of the room. She quickly quit the tournament when her match against Gaara was called. Naruto ignored her and locked eyes with the crazed Gaara, both anticipating their coming battle as they Shunshined to the arena floor simultaneously.

"Uzumaki Naruto vs Subaku no Gaara! Hajime!"

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Devil's Champion

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Chapter Two

Batting a tendril of sand aside with his armored fist, the metal glowing orange from Fire chakra, Naruto grinned darkly from behind his mask. It was going more smoothly than he originally thought. The extreme heat being produced by his armor sleeve was enough to instantly turn any sand that comes in contact with it into solid glass.

"Hehehe…Are you even trying? I saw what you did to Lee, so I know you can do better than this." Naruto taunted as Gaara's eyes became bloodshot with blood lust and anger. The tendril Naruto had hit had turned completely into glass and didn't even shatter when it hit the ground. Scattered all throughout the arena were nearly a dozen other make-shift glass sculptures lying on the ground.

"Shut up." The Suna genin growled in frustration as he sent another wave of sand at his next chosen victim. Naruto simply formed a ball of fire in his left hand and added a touch of Kyuubi's chakra to it, turning the flames silver with a black hue along the edges.

"Hakunetsu." Naruto whispered quietly as he threw the fire ball. The moment it left his hand, the ball streaked towards the sand wave coming at him in a line of grey and black smoke, striking the sedimentary wall and engulfing it in silvery fire. The fire continued to spread and run down the sand until it reached the source, moving too fast for Gaara to avoid. Instantly, Gaara and his gourd were engulfed in the same silver and black fire as the rest of his sand.

Screaming in pain and fear for the first time in his life, Gaara tried to escape the hungry tongues of fire covering him, but the Ichibi sealed inside of him just wouldn't allow the sand to drop from his body. Within seconds, Gaara was encased in cloudy glass as the sand making up his sand armor and shield fused and hardened, his body having become crystallized glass as well.

"Winner: Uzumaki Nar-"

_BOOM!_

Genma's declaration was interrupted as Konoha's southern wall was crushed by a giant three headed snake summon, Oto and Suna nin flooding the village through the opening. The Kage Booth was suddenly engulfed in smoke as more Oto and Suna shinobi revealed themselves from among the audience, the civilians and weaker shinobi having been put under a genjutsu just moments before.

"Heh. Just in time, too…" Naruto muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, Genma was close enough to hear him and turned to look at him.

"What? You knew about this, Uzumaki-san?" The jounin asked, suspicious as to why the genin hadn't warned them about the attack. Naruto gave him a side long glance as he pulled Kubikiri out in front of him and rested the mighty blade on his shoulder, grinning viciously behind his mask.

"Something like that." The giant responded before moving quickly and dropping Kubikiri down on Genma's neck and shoulder, cutting through the man's torso, killing him instantly. Just as Kubikiri's tip touched the ground, a team of Suna shinobi surrounded him. Naruto turned his eyes to each of them, letting his range finder work its magic.

"Three jounin level shinobi, five chuunin. Each of you has Wind chakra and the jounins have Earth and Fire. The chuunins are all weak in kenjutsu and taijutsu. The jounins are strong in taijutsu, but still weak in kenjutsu…" Naruto grinned as almost all of them flinched slightly, stunned by his accurate analysis. Naruto spun around and coated his armored sleeve in Wind chakra, blocking Baki's Kaze no Yaiba with the palm of his hand. "All of you except for one…"

"You murdered two of my students in cold blood, boy." Baki growled in anger, which only made Naruto grin even more. His mirth showing in his uncovered right eye, Naruto let go of Kubikiri and charged his right arm full of Kyuubi's chakra, his tattoos glowing dark crimson as the Cursed Mark activated and covered his entire body in the same kind of tribal markings as his right arm.

"Your point is?" Naruto asked before throwing a gut punch at the bandaged jounin before him, only for said man to jump back fast enough to dodge the physical punch, but not the spectral chakra arm that kept coming.

Spectral fist met Baki's abdomen, throwing him back and scorching his clothing and flesh from the corrosive characteristics of Kyuubi's chakra. Baki slammed into the glass statue that was Gaara and shattered the crystallized body.

The chuunins lunged for him, but Naruto spun a full 360 degrees as he grabbed Kubikiri and sliced all of them in half. Even as their blood sprayed over him, Kubikiri was growing sharper and stronger with every drop. Naruto turned his gaze back on the three jounin standing around him and started to chuckle darkly.

"You bastard!" Growled a rookie jounin as he started going through hand seals for a technique, only for a glaive to imbed itself in his chest. The other two jounin, one male and one female, looked at the rookie as he fell to his knees, blood leaking from his mouth.

"Fool." Naruto huffed as he appeared in front of the rapidly dying man and ripped his glaive from jounin's chest, wiping it clean and holstering it. The woman quickly performed Kaze no Yaiba and moved to slice Naruto in half, but he ducked just a second too fast for her. As a result, she cut her comrade's head off and received a kick to the stomach that threw her against the arena wall, killing her instantly.

"Tch…Weaklings." Naruto grumbled, annoyed with the lack of challenging opponents. Oddly enough, not a single Konoha shinobi had noticed him killing Genma in all the chaos, which was a good thing and a bad thing. If they had noticed, he would have to fight to get free of Konoha, but that means no good fights since no one noticed Genma's death…

Turning from the slaughtered Suna shinobi around him, Naruto started walking calmly toward the arena exit, slicing apart any ninja that got in his way. Just as he got passed the double doors and down the few steps, Naruto's path was blocked by a Konoha jounin.

"Where do you think you're going, Naruto-san?" Asuma asked calmly as he took a slow drag on his cigarette, his voice holding a slight edge to it.

"Oh, me? Just going for a stroll. Want to join me, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto inquired mockingly as he tilted his head to the side slightly. Asuma stayed quiet and neither moved as the chain smoker finished his cigarette. Flicking the cancer stick away, Asuma drew his trench knives and finally opened his eyes, glaring at Naruto coldly.

"The others might not have seen it, but I did." Asuma stated calmly.

"Oh? And what exactly did you see, Sarutobi-san?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head down slightly, his right eye glinting with a lust for battle. Asuma noticed this and knew what it was. He had seen it before in the eyes of two different missing-nin from Kiri; the Demon of the Mist- Momochi Zabuza- and the Monster of Water Country- Hoshigaki Kisame.

"You killed a fellow Konoha shinobi. You're a traitor, Naruto-san. Do you know what the punishment is for criminals who have killed one of their comrades?" Asuma asked as he channeled Wind chakra into his trench knives, gritting his teeth in anger. He and Genma had been friends for years and to have his friend murdered by a student of his of all things…

"Death…" Naruto hissed in excitement as he let Kubikiri drop to the ground tip first, the mighty blade piercing the stone under his feet. Before Asuma could react, Naruto had appeared before the jounin and batted his hands to the sides before kicking the man in the chest.

Before the jounin could hit anything, Naruto reappeared in his path and brought his elbow down on his chest, slamming him into the concrete pathway. Bleeding from the corner of his mouth, Asuma stayed where he was, unable to move without one of his broken ribs puncturing his lungs.

"Pathetic…" Naruto muttered as he turned from the man and collected his sword before walking away. "To think that you were once one of the Twelve Guardians of Fire Country…"

Asuma grit his teeth as his temporary student walked away. As much as he hated to admit it, Naruto had a point. He had been slacking in his training for the past few years, digging himself a hole and Naruto had shown him how deep he was. Asuma now knew he had just hit rock bottom and he didn't like the kind of situation he had put himself into.

"You…will pay…for this, Naruto…" Asuma growled quietly to himself, vowing revenge on his short-term student. "I'll correct my mistakes and if that means killing you…then I won't hesitate next time…"

Baki, barely conscious, was silently vowing the same thing, only vowing revenge on Naruto for the deaths of his two students and several of his comrades.

"Baki-sensei!" Temari called out as she landed beside him and started checking her mentor's injuries. Just as she called his name, Baki started to lose consciousness completely, his mind dead set on growing stronger after he gets back to Sunagakure and fully recovers.

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Next Day

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Groaning quietly as he stretched his muscles and popped his bones back into place after a long night of rest, Naruto stepped out of the hotel he had stayed in last night. Escaping Konoha had been simple enough; all he had to do was meet the invading forces head on and cut a swath through their ranks in the thinnest area to get past them. Several Konoha shinobi had seen him and helped him with the fights as best as they could, giving Naruto the best chance to escape Konoha.

'_Idiots.'_ Naruto thought to himself in mild amusement as he strolled down the street of the small town he came across. It was mostly a farming-oriented village, but Naruto didn't really care. All he wanted last night was to sleep. He knew that he would have to put as much distance between himself and Konoha by sun down or else he'll have a horde of ninja on his ass by noon.

Once he left the town and entered the forest, Naruto continued on his way at a fast pace, heading due north for Snow Country. He wasn't sure why he picked Snow Country, but Naruto felt something akin to being called toward the snow-covered nation. He'll figure it out later on, but until then, Naruto just continued to high tail it north.

Within a couple hours, he reached the borders of Fire and Rice, but Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew Rice Country was under Orochimaru's control and with the Cursed Mark on his arm, Naruto wasn't so sure he should enter the man's domain. He wasn't so much afraid of the man as compared to putting himself in deeper shit than he is already in.

Having Konoha on his ass is more than enough, but Orochimaru, too?

'_No thanks. I'd much rather battle all nine Bijuu at the same time with both hands tied behind my back than deal with both of them.'_ Naruto mused silently to himself in annoyance before turning east. He'll go along Rice's border until he reaches Lightning, then he'll head north between the two countries. It'll be a pain in the ass dealing with border patrols, but the ANBU patrols in Konoha were much harder to avoid than border patrols and Naruto was a master at avoiding them due to his old pranking fits.

"Che…pests…" He grumbled remembering how annoying the patrols had been. He dismissed those thoughts and let his mind wander. Sighing softly, Naruto knew he would miss Chameleon. The man had been taking care of him for years now, teaching things from manners and calligraphy to battle strategies and taijutsu styles.

He still remembered the first time Chameleon started 'helping' him work on his armored sleeve and range finder-mask prototypes four years ago…

_Flashback_

_Naruto growled quietly out of determination as he bashed away at the red hot metal plate set out before him with a hammer. Soot and coal dust smeared his sweaty body and the furnace glowed white hot with burning embers. Leaning against the wall on the other side of the room was Chameleon, supervising his student's progress._

_A week before, Naruto had brought up the idea of creating a perfect defense, but Chameleon tried to set him straight, knowing it was almost impossible to simply create a perfect defense. Naruto's determination reared its ugly head and the rather tall boy rose to the challenge._

_Since then, the boy had worked on studying everything dealing with defensive properties, even researching into defensive abilities of animals and types of armor from all over the world. Three days into the week, Naruto had spent every last bit of money he possessed to buy the materials for his current project, an armored sleeve and gauntlet to go on his left arm._

_Chameleon knew he had chosen the perfect student when Naruto took the initiative into his own hands and fought to prove himself. Now that he thought about it, the end of next week would be the beginning of Naruto's third year under his tutelage._

_If the boy manages to pull a miracle out of his ass by then and finish his so-called 'perfect defense', he'll treat Naruto to something special. Even if it isn't combat ready or fully completed, Chameleon decided to reward his student anyways._

_Growling louder in mild frustration, Naruto continued to hammer out the metal plate into shape with great vigor and effort. He never showed Chameleon his notes or the extensive paperwork he had done prior to three days ago, but Naruto had been studying on all forms of seals, focusing mostly of defensive and counter-action seals._

_He was still a novice at best, but it was a start. Now, if only he had something that could defend against genjutsu and allow him to see through anything that might obstruct his sight along with defending him from air borne poisons and toxins…_

_Flashback End_

Dropping to the forest floor, Naruto walked the last stretch of land to the shore. A quick glance to either side revealed nothing on the beach except for a small fishing shack with a small pier and a boat in the water. Approaching the small structure quietly, Naruto switched his range finder to its heat vision mode and discovered no one was there.

"Hm…No one's home. Lucky me." Naruto mused quietly to himself as he quickly untied the boat and shoved off the pier, rowing out to sea. It'll be a pain in the ass if he doesn't run across any larger ships bound for Snow Country soon due to the rough seas from conflicting currents and water temperatures.

Letting the fingers of his right hand glide through the cold water, Naruto remembered when Chameleon first started teaching him how to walk on water with chakra…

_Flashback_

"_B-But Chameleon-sensei! It's freezing!"_

_Thwap!_

"_No whining. Cold water make good motivator. Cold water slow motor skills. Cold water make harder to think. You left with one option. Walk or freeze." Chameleon lectured in his same crazy little way of speaking as he reattached his sheathed ninjato to his lower back. Although he never said it, Chameleon found it amusing to teach Naruto different things._

_It gave him a chance to entertain himself by torturing the poor child with stupid assignments…_

_That included making the boy run from a pack of starved wolves while wearing a meat poncho, catching an entire swarm of angry hornets with only a pair of chopsticks and sticking them in a box without harming a single one, walking barefoot on hot coals while carrying a pair of buckets filled with ice water across them without spilling a drop to fill an Olympic size in-ground pool, and walking across the bottom of a lake with rocks tied to his wrists and ankles as he tried to catch fish for dinner…_

_Now that he thought about it, all of his previous training tactics had been rather life threatening…_

_Shrugging it off, Chameleon dismissed that last thought. The boy had survived, hadn't he? There was nothing to worry about. Snickering quietly as Naruto's concentration slipped and he dropped into the icy depths of the river during the harshest point in winter wearing only a pair of swimming trunks, Chameleon continued watching his chosen mode of entertainment for the day…_

_Flashback End_

Naruto pouted childishly as he remembered that particular day rather vividly. He still hated Chameleon for making him do those stupid things all the time. He then sighed, finding the only thing he regretted leaving behind was his long time friend and teacher behind in Konoha. Naruto knew the man hated Konoha just as much as him, but was still loyal to the Sandaime and stayed to do the old man's bidding whatever it might be out of honor and duty.

'_Fool…You'll only get yourself killed thinking like that…'_ Naruto mused sadly, wishing his teacher good luck in life. Hearing a larger ship nearby, Naruto flipped through vision modes on his range finder to see through the thick mist around him until he spotted the ship. It was a cargo ship. Perfect.

Jumping out of the boat and leaving a small exploding tag on it to sink it, Naruto ran across the water for the cargo ship. All he had to do was hide out in the cargo hold and since the ship was heading in the approximate direction of Snow Country, Naruto knew he would have no problems reaching his chosen destination.

Leaping and attaching himself to the ship's metal hull with chakra, Naruto began to climb to the surface deck, avoiding being spotted and heading straight for the main cargo hold. He had a long couple days ahead of him before they reached Snow Country…

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Three Months Later

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Taking a half step back to dodge the pathetic roundhouse kick, Naruto grabbed the ankle of the pink haired woman before him and tossed her aside, causing her back to slam into the wall and knock her unconscious. At the same time, the brutish gorilla that was her comrade came rushing in, only for Naruto to halt his movements by grabbing the man by the face and smashing him into the ground…face first.

Their third comrade began to perform a sequence of hand seals for an Ice technique before Naruto's glaives came flying in, one imbedding itself in the crystal on his armor while the third was barely dodged by the man, Nadare, resulting in a lock of hair getting cut off.

Naruto sighed. He didn't even have to try. These guys were just high chuunin, low jounin level shinobi. Even Asuma, in his lax state, was tougher than these guys. The girl, Fubuki, was a rather nice looking girl, but she could do with some upgrades in skill. The burly brute, Mizore, was practically all brawn and no brains. Nadare was just an arrogant jack ass that couldn't even handle him fighting at one fifth of his true power.

Blurring into sight beside the man, Naruto back handed Nadare across the face and sent him careening into the wall, snapping his neck from the force of the blow. Their employer, Dotou, was already dead and their target, Koyuki Kazehana, was huddled up in a corner nearby as she waited out the fight.

"Pathetic. I expected more of a challenge from you guys." Naruto grumbled in annoyance as he stomped on Mizore's neck, breaking it. He turned his attention on Fubuki and decided to let her live…for now. Creating a quick Kage Bunshin and giving it orders to bind the unconscious woman and take her somewhere else, Naruto ripped off the remains of Mizore's, Nadare's, and Dotou's Chakra Armor and sealed it all away in a scroll before vanishing in a swirl of wind.

He had already been paid by the young woman's manager a couple days ago out of trust, so Naruto found no need to stick around. He wanted to get back to his own business.

"Sir!" The clone snapped to attention instantly, saluting him as he approached it and the bound form of Fubuki. Naruto ignored his clone and crouched down in front of the unconscious woman, cupping her chin in his right hand as he lifted her head up to get a better look at her face. Ripping off her hat with his left hand and taking out the black ties in her hair, Naruto idly noticed she looked more beautiful with her hair down and uncovered.

"Dismissed." Naruto growled at the clone, which dispelled itself a moment later without hesitation. Picking the young woman up and slinging her over his right shoulder, Naruto walked through the snowy forest towards his hideout, his right hand firmly gripping Fubuki's firm and meaty rear.

"_**Do you still remember what I taught you, kit?"**_ Inquired his tenant, Kyuubi. Naruto didn't reply, but then again, he didn't need to. Kyuubi knew what he knew, but he could tell Kyuubi was trying to make conversation. Something he wasn't really big on.

"_Of course I do, Kyuubi. You know that."_ Naruto growled at the giant fox spirit through the mental link between them. They had been on neutral terms since they first made contact five years ago and the Kyuubi taught him how to properly control its chakra with the seals on Naruto's right arm.

"_Now leave me be. I'm busy."_ Naruto hissed in irritation at the fox before cutting the mental link, currently standing before the entrance of his hideout. Spreading his fingers wide as he placed his left palm against the stone door, Naruto channeled the proper proportions of Earth, Wind, and Fire chakra into the hidden seal, a set of nine rings made up of dozens of numbers suddenly glowing red on the stone slab in front of him.

Turning the dials to the right combination, Naruto entered his hide out and slid the stone door shut before illuminating the room in light with a small ball of fire resting on the tip of his left index finger and lighting a number of candles with it.

The room held a number of work benches covered in metal plates, papers of all kinds, and various weapons along with a couple chairs. Off to the other side was a small kitchen and a simple table to eat at. In the back room was his furnace and armory.

Kicking open the trap door in front of him, Naruto descended the stairs leading to his bedroom and sealing chamber, Fubuki still having remained unconscious and draped over his right shoulder. Entering the sealing chamber, Naruto lit the candles in the room and set Fubuki down in the middle of the room on the simple futon sitting there and stripping her bare.

He had been studying the Cursed Mark given to him by Orochimaru in his free time and with Kyuubi's aid, Naruto was able to reproduce the seal, albeit not in its original form. Whereas Orochimaru's Cursed Mark had two stages of activation and ate away at the target's subconscious, Naruto new variation of it fully changed the person to his specifications during the sealing process and molds the mind in any given way that Naruto chooses.

"Right hand of the body: Seal." Naruto mumbled to himself as he placed his hands on the outer most edge of the seal and channeled his chakra into it. Instantly, the seal glowed deep red and black markings like cracks in stone formed on Fubuki's body. A thin sheen of red chakra then covered her nude form and condensed, blotting out her features as Naruto began shaping the woman to his preferences.

"Left hand of the psyche: Seal." He mumbled again as the physical changes were finished and he began working on her mind, the chakra shell around Fubuki slowing dissolving in various spots. Her eyes were like Naruto's, black with red slit pupils and crimson sclera. Skin now ashen pale with black tribal markings on her right arm like Naruto's, Fubuki was now about 5'8" in height with pale silver hair tipped with black that draped down to her plump rear and slim waist.

Her nails were now sharp black claws, her canine teeth had become sharp fangs, and a pair of black lines trailing from her eyes like streams of tears were now visible. Her originally D-cup breasts had gone up two sizes, making them F-cup, and her hips had grown a tad wider than before, giving Fubuki a near perfect hourglass figure. The woman's lips were now full and juicy, her eyes permanently ringed with a thin line of black eye liner, making her facial appearance more seductive and attractive.

"Will of the spirit: Seal." Naruto growled out quietly, sweating slightly from exertion. The seal flashed white for a split second as it locked the changes done to Fubuki, making them permanent. Cutting chakra flow to the seal, Naruto hunched over in his kneeling position, panting and sweating from the extreme chakra drain of using the multi-step seal.

"Che…Still passed out, eh?" Naruto scoffed and inquired aimlessly as he glanced up at his new subordinate and possible student. He still had to decide on the last part, but it was quite likely to occur since Naruto felt the need to pass on his knowledge. Some of it, at least.

Standing up on slightly weaker legs, Naruto stumbled over to Fubuki and picked her up bridal style before taking her out of the chamber and into his bedroom. He then laid her down on the black-framed king-size bed and placed her under the black and red covers. As he turned to leave, Naruto caught a glance of a mark in the center of her chest; a black double-sided battle axe with the kanji for 'Devil' resting between the two curved blades.

"Heh…" Naruto found it ironic, remembering how Neji had called him a devil a few months ago during the Chuunin Exams. Fortunately for the Hyuuga runt, Naruto had released the genjutsu over the boy just as he left Konoha.

Heading back up to his workshop, Naruto sat down at a table and unsealed the Chakra Armor sets he had taken from those three fools earlier. At first glance, Naruto didn't see anything special about them, but with his augmented range finder and a little chakra pumped into the suits, Naruto could see the potential they held.

A thin chakra shield capable of deflecting most ninjutsu attacks and cancelling out most genjutsu techniques radiated from the armor. Combined with his current defenses, Naruto knew his goal of creating a perfect defense and counter-offensive style would be one step closer. All he needed to do was reverse engineer the Chakra Armor pieces individually and combine them with parts of his armored sleeve and the defensive seals on it.

"Only one problem with that…" Naruto grumbled quietly to himself as he saw the extensive complex seal arrays twisting and circulating around every inch of the metal plates that made up the armor sets, the crystals acting as the cores.

"Damn it. Its gonna be a _long_ night…" He huffed in mild annoyance as he got up to make some coffer, knowing he'd be up for the entire night just copying down the seals then maybe another week simply translating each individual rune and marking. It'll be quite some time until he'd get finished with the seals and mix them with his own designs…

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End file.
